Novo Nordisk sues Pfizer over Exubera

Novo Nordisk has sued Pfizer claiming the new product Exubera violates patents on inhalable insulin.
“We’re trying to protect our intellectual property,” Novo Nordisk general counsel Jim Shehan said in a CNNMoney.com report. “We’ve been a leader in diabetes for 80 years. For us to keep that leadership position it’s essential that our intellectual property rights are respected.” Shehan told the Web site Exubera violates five Novo Nordisk patents involving inhaled insulin and that the first of his company’s patents was filed in 1993.
Novo Nordisk filed its suit on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, where Pfizer is based.
Pfizer spokesman Bryant Haskins released the following statement in response to the lawsuit: “Pfizer has not had an opportunity to review the Novo Nordisk complaint, but we are confident in the innovation behind the development of this new medicine.”